


Forced Away

by Zoe_Dameron



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alcohol, DarkPilot, Inappropriate Use of the Force, M/M, Mind Control, knightpilot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-07 07:22:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11054106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoe_Dameron/pseuds/Zoe_Dameron
Summary: New Republic pilot Poe Dameron is assigned to the Jedi Temple, where he reunites with the volatile Jedi Ben Solo. Sparks fly between them, but unbeknownst to Poe, Ben is already falling to the Dark Side, and about to take his last step to become Kylo Ren. Is it too late for them before it even began?





	Forced Away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Artemis1000](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis1000/gifts).



The frame of the transport ship rattled violently as they entered the atmosphere of Tython, pitching Poe Dameron back and forth against the walls of the hull before he was able to grab a hold of one of the safety handles hanging from the ceiling.

He let out a whoop of excitement as he watched the clouds fly past the windows, oblivious to the retching and general nausea shared by his fellow New Republic graduates. There was nothing that could beat the view of the ground from the air for Poe, and he pressed his nose up against the transparisteel to take it all in before he was stuck back on land for however long.

The touchdown was rougher than the re-entry, somehow, and when the young, inexperienced pilot stumbled out of the cockpit holding his stomach next to his very dazed-looking flight instructor, Poe couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ha! We’ll get you there, Sijmbosjh,” he chuckled, clapping the poor Zygerrian on the back as he made his way off the ship.

“You take him, Dameron,” the instructor muttered under his breath. “Zygerrians belong on the ground if you ask me.”

Poe shook his head, smiling. “Anyone can fly, Gneathan. They just need the right teacher.” The two put up their fists in mock-aggression before waving goodbye.

Throwing his knapsack over his shoulder, he followed the other five graduates to their assigned barracks at the edge of the city. Their accommodations were small, not unlike the dormitories at the New Republic Academy, but here they each had their own cozy room and refresher, with each room facing a central lounge and kitchen area.

Poe unpacked his few belongings quickly, throwing his few shirts and trousers into the bureau provided and arranging his _Do it for Princess Leia of the Rebellion!_ poster on the wall above his bed. He washed his face, changed his clothes, and checked himself in the mirror a half dozen times before running out the door, waving a hand at his roommates that looked to be preparing dinner. At that moment, food was the last thing on Poe Dameron’s mind.

The ground of Tython was dusty and hard, but the slight difference in gravity made it easy to run on. Poe scanned the horizon for the Jedi Temple, finally spotting the tallest spire peeking out from behind the thicket of trees to the north. It was midday and the nearest star was warming but not overbearing as he ran, complemented by a cool breeze that seemed to carry him straight to the front steps of the Jedi Temple.

A pair of young Padawans waved at him and snickered to each other as he climbed the stairs of the main temple. He waved and smiled back, eliciting rosy cheeks from both girls.

Reaching the top stair, he hailed over one older looking Padawan, remembering to bow and introduce himself. “Hey there! I’m Poe. Poe Dameron. Just graduated from the New Republic Academy and was sent here on assignment. Have you seen Ben Organa anywhere? I’m trying to find Ben Organa. He might go by Ben Solo?”

The Padawan nodded, pulling one arm of his robe aside to gesture towards the temple’s back garden. Poe bowed at him again in thanks before breaking into a light jog through the grand main hall. He had never been in a Jedi Temple before, and he paused more than once to marvel at the stained transparisteel windows that lined the walls. The light played through of the colors so beautifully, bathing the tile floor in rainbows of all shades. Poe felt like he could practically reach out to touch it.

He found Ben in the yard, away from the harvesting and planting and tending of the other Padawans. Ben was staring off into the woods, seemingly oblivious to the goings-on of life behind him. His hair had gotten long and Poe barely recognized him.

Poe had planned on sneaking up on Ben until he saw the fierce-looking lightsaber strapped to Ben’s belt. He hadn’t had a lightsaber the last time Poe saw him.

“ _Benjamin Bail Organa_ ,” he yelled in his best Han Solo impression, hands firmly planted on his hips. “ _You don’t have time to give your old man a hug_?!”

Startled, Ben turned to Poe, eyes wide. “Poe?! Poe, what the – what are you doing here? I thought you were at the academy?”

Poe rushed to meet him, throwing his arms open and wrapping Ben in a smothering hug that was only partially reciprocated.

The two stood there for a long while before Poe finally pulled back, grasping Ben by his shoulders and looking up at him with that wry smile that got him into so much trouble.

“I graduated, Ben. This is my first assignment. Working with the Jedi.”

Ben blinked. “But, you fly. You’re a pilot.”

“I asked for this assignment first. I missed you, man.” Poe tried to look past it, but part of him was disappointed at Ben’s reaction to surprising him. He seemed anxious, more harried than usual. “Aren’t you happy to see me? I gotta confess, I thought this surprise would go over a lot better for my ego.”

Ben turned to look over his shoulder back into the woods, chewing nervously on his bottom lip. “I’m sorry, Poe, I – I didn’t know you were coming here. Why are you here? How long are you staying?”

Poe’s smile faded and he drew himself back. “A few months, I think. I mean, I’m sorry if I overstepped or something. I thought you’d be excited to see me, considering how we left things before the Academy. I guess, I mean – sorry.”

He struggled to read Ben. The person standing before him wore the face of the boy he loved back home, but something was off. Different. Like everything that Poe knew as ‘Ben Organa’ was stuck under the shade of a particularly dark storm cloud.

Ben glanced back into the woods again, brow furrowed. Turning to face Poe once more, he grabbed Poe’s hand, pulling him close.

“Listen. I – I am happy to see you. I am,” he whispered in hushed tones. “But we can’t talk like this here. Meet me tonight. There’s a cantina named Howler’s Hole, near the market. Meet me there at 19:00, okay?”

Poe nodded, forcing a smile as he released Ben’s hand. “Okay, Ben. Whatever you’d like. Sorry again.”

Clasping his hands in his robes, Ben nodded back and returned to where Poe found him, staring into the darkness beyond the trees.

Disappointed and moderately unsettled by the actions of a man he thought he knew, Poe dejectedly began the long walk back to the barracks.

\---

Night fell early on Tython, and Poe was able to get some well-needed sleep before his meetup with Ben later that evening. He took a long, hot sonic shower that did little to perk up his mood. His hair was shorn short from years at the New Republic Academy and there wasn't much he could do to style it, unfortunately. He knew Ben liked to play with his long curls. Or, at least the Ben he knew did, all those years ago.

Throwing on his mom’s old pilot jacket, he stepped out into the cool evening air and headed to the cantina.

Ben was already there waiting for him in a booth against the far wall. The soft light of the bar cast shadows across his hunched and fidgety form. Poe stood in the doorway for a moment to watch him, looking for any sign of the man he had taken this assignment to see. He finally caught Ben’s attention, who smiled crookedly at him from across the room, beckoning Poe over. Painting his face with his own facsimile of a smile, Poe took a seat in the booth across from Ben.

The two sat in awkward silence for a moment before Ben shoved one of his two drinks over to Poe, who eyed it cautiously.

“You know, my mom always told me I shouldn’t accept unknown drinks from strangers.”

Ben’s eye twitched at the statement. “What do you mean by that? We’re not strangers.”

Poe raised his drink, taking a deep swig of it as a show of peace. “I was kidding, Ben,” he said, clearing his throat.

“I seem different to you.”

“I mean, yeah,” Poe replied, cautiously. “When you left we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. One or both of us _definitely_ cried at the thought of being away from the other. So I make arrangements to come visit you, and just…”

Ben leaned back, like he was guarding something. “Things have changed. I’ve changed.”

“Ben, if –” Poe began, looking away. “If you’re seeing someone else, I mean –”

“No. I’m not seeing anyone else.”

“Then what?” Poe pleaded, feeling pathetic and desperate and confused. “Was it me? Did I do something?”

Ben wrapped his fingers around his cup, slowly pulling it to his lips and taking a long drink.

“You know the Jedi aren’t allowed to be in relationships, Poe. My master thinks my _talents_ could be better for the galaxy if my attention was focused… elsewhere.”

Poe scoffed. “Luke said that? Are those his rules?”

“They’re very old rules, Poe.”

“Well, that’s stupid. You shouldn’t be a Jedi, then.”

Ben chuckled to himself from behind his drink. “You know my mother would kill you if she heard you talking like that.”

“I’m just saying, Ben. Maybe becoming a Jedi isn’t the right place for you if you’re not allowed to feel things for other people.”

Ben laughed again, deeper this time, like Poe had just told the punchline to a joke that only Ben could hear.

“I know you mean well, Poe, but I’ve already decided what I’m going to do. I’m sure that my master knows what’s best for me.”

“So can you not call him ‘Uncle Luke’ anymore, now that you have that weird Jedi-in-training braid and a glowing light sword? Calling him ‘master’ seems very… I don’t know. _Weird_.”

Ben smiled. “I’m not talking about Luke.”

“Then who –”

“Listen, Poe,” Ben began, reaching out his hands over Poe’s and pulling him towards him. “I know where I belong now. It may be hard for you to understand, but… you can come with me, maybe.”

“Go with you? Where are you going?”

Ben pulled him closer from across the table, greedily leaning over Poe with a hunger in his eyes Poe had never seen before. Poe felt his knuckles begin to crack beneath Ben’s grip, unable to pull away.

“Ben, please,” Poe tried not to whine, unable to keep the rising panic out of his voice. “You’re _hurting me_.”

“Oh, this is hurting you? You have no idea what it means to be hurt, pilot. No idea what real pain feels like as it tears you apart from the inside.”

His harsh tones and roughness with Poe had alerted other patrons in the bar, but Ben waved a dismissive hand and everyone returned to their business. Poe tried to catch someone’s attention for assistance, for _anything_ , for someone to get him out of this situation, but he felt helpless as his head turned back against his will to face Ben.

“You weren’t supposed to be here, pilot. There are things in this world that are bigger than you. Bigger than whatever feelings we may have had as children. You need to leave.”

“Ben, I don’t understand, please! Just – just talk to me! We can figure this out.” Tears were springing from Poe’s eyes now as he could feel the bones in his hands straining beneath Ben’s, pained just above breaking.

“There’s nothing to figure out. It’s already in motion, Poe. And I’m not going to let you ruin this for me.” He looked down at the blue liquid in Poe’s cup that had mostly been untouched. “You should drink that. It will be easier for you.”

Poe tried to speak, tried to shake his head, tried to pull himself out of Ben’s grip, but his words caught in his throat and his body wasn’t responding to anything he commanded it to do. Ben released his left hand and Poe watched in horror as it mechanically reached for his drink, downing it in one long gulp.

Ben released Poe’s other hand, nodding as Poe placed both of them on his lap before looking up at Ben.

“This is how it has to be, Poe. Now, _stand_.”

Poe let out a soft cry as his body seemed to move without him, pulling him out of the booth and standing him in front of Ben to await further instruction.

Ben let him stay there for a moment while he finished his own drink. Finally, grabbing Poe’s arm, he whispered “ _follow me_ ” into the pilot’s ear, smiling softly as Poe was forced to obey.

“ _Take me to your room_ ,” came his next command, and Poe marched forward towards their housing, watching in a panic as a passenger in his own body. He wanted to scream at Ben to stop whatever this was, but Ben’s attention was elsewhere.

Ben pushed him through the door of their barracks and followed Poe to the room he made Poe indicate was his. Closing the door behind them with a finality that made Poe’s heart race, the two stood there in the darkness for what seemed like an eternity. Ben’s breathing was ragged behind him, and Poe screwed his eyes shut, praying to the Force that this was all just a bad dream.

“Take off your shoes and jacket and shirt and get into the bed,” he commanded next, and Poe complied.

Pulling the covers down he laid on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, still unable to move on his own. Tears streamed across his face in horror as Ben came into view, hovering over him in the darkness like a creature from a nightmare.

Ben pulled the covers up Poe’s body and stared down at him for a moment before leaning over and pressing a small, lingering kiss to Poe’s forehead.

“This is how it has to be, Poe. I’m sorry. I did love you. Remember Ben as he was and forget all this. Now, _sleep_.”

Poe barely had time to register the command before a comforting blackness enveloped him and he sank into a deep slumber.

\---

Hours later, Poe shot upright in his bed, soaked with sweat and panting through the panic. There was someone banging on the other side of the door, yelling his name. Stumbling out of bed, he hobbled to the door, fussing with the lock before finally unlatching it.

“Poe, come on! We have to evacuate!”

Blinking through the migraine working its way through the pain receptors in his brain, Poe stared blankly back at the person shaking him. He eventually recognized her as Anisse, one of his classmates at the Academy.

“We – what?”

“Poe, the Jedi Temple is on fire, there was an attack. We have to evacuate – now!”

She flew past Poe into his room, grabbing his bag off a chair and stuffing it full of the few belongings he had brought. Pulling a shirt over his head and throwing his jacket over his shoulders she pushed him out of the room, dragging him to the clearing where the other graduates were waiting for them. In a daze, Poe struggled to understand the commotion happening around him. People were shouting and crying, and in the distance there was a warm glow just beyond the trees.

“Dameron, come on!” Anisse shouted, pulling him into the hull of the transport ship that had come to carry them to safety. He felt a twinge of _something_ left behind, something important, but he couldn’t place it.

As the ship took off he stared down at the scene below, finally catching a glimpse of Jedi Temple engulfed in flames as it cracked and broke apart.

He turned away, looking to his team for answers.

“How did I get here?”


End file.
